Just installed NAM - Traffic questions

[MoarTriangle 0]

Hello

 

I started playing Sim City 4 a few weeks ago and I've mostly been playing around with the simulator trying to understand how it works. When i learned the pathing was bugged in the original game i decided to download NAM and so I did but now I've got a few things i cannot figure out.

 

The city consists of only low wealth sims and commercial jobs, I have all the dirty industry in a city next to it. The two cities are connected with avenue and underground tram.

 

Before i installed NAM i had almost exclusively bus traffic in this city, but after i seems to be getting barley any bus rides at all, why is this?

 

Also, will the congestion get better if my sims start taking buses instead of cars to their commerical jobs? Because from what I've understood buses dont work the same way in NAM as in the original, but im having a very hard time finding any information about the changes. Is there a site for the changes NAM does to traffic?

 

City

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=10pwzfc&s=6

 

Traffic data view

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2a763xk&s=6

 

Routes to commercial jobs with bus stoppes marked

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=34nk3lz&s=6

 

Zoning

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=z7kns&s=6

 

Thanks!

 

Oh and btw, when I was done installing NAM, I had the option to check a window wether I wanted to install some sort of Traffic simulator configuration tool(?) or not. Since it was unchecked by default, I let it be and did not install the component. Could anyone explain what it was?

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Did you get the

 

You can reinstall the NAM over top of itself if you want the TSCT tool.

[MoarTriangle 0]

Did you get the

 

You can reinstall the NAM over top of itself if you want the TSCT tool.

Downloaded and installed the hotfix and let the city run for a year, still same issue with buses though.

[Indiana Joe 1,752]

Open up the Traffic Simulator Config Tool (an icon should have been created on your desktop, otherwise it is in C:\Program Files (x86)\Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool).

 

At the top of the window, you can adjust how much your sims use mass transit versus cars versus walking.  I personally use Medium (simulates American usage), but you might want to use High (European) to get your sims to use buses again.  Play around with it.

[Cefien 361]

More comprehensive explanation about NAM traffic simulator can be found

[Prophet42 1,503]

I would recommend getting the Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool.  I found it necessary to mess around with the Intersection factor.  A value of 1.0 on the intersection totally messed up my cities.  I had to lower the factor to around .3 to .5 to restore my cities to 'normal'.

[MoarTriangle 0]

Thank you all for the replies. Im startin to understand this mod more and more, I guess the reason for the lack of busses is because NAM makes the game more realistic by increasing the car to bus ratio.

 

Also, i installed the Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool but I cant get it to start up. When i doubble click the shortcut on my desktop a black window appears for 0.5 seconds then dissapears and nothing else happends. 

 

Is is not compatible with the steam version of sim city 4?

 

edit: nvm I it was a java problem

[z1 566]

I'm afraid that the answers you have been given about buses are incorrect.  The pointer by Cefien to the traffic simulator guide should be helpful, though.  There are two main differences between bus behavior in the Maxis traffic simulator and in the NAM traffic simulator.  First, buses travel twice as fast as cars in the Maxis simulator, while the NAM simulator is more realistic, having them travel slightly slower than cars.  Secondly, and most importantly, buses do not contribute to traffic in the Maxis simulator, while in the NAM simulator, they contribute to traffic, just like every other travel type (except pedestrians).  The Maxis behavior means that its traffic simulator can jam as many Sims into buses as it wants with no effect on traffic; these buses are run by the Black Hole Bus Company.  As a result, the Maxis traffic simulator uses buses a lot, because it's a great way to get rid of congestion.

 

It's not hard to get better bus usage out of the NAM traffic simulator, however.  The key is to have enough bus stops.  Keep in mind that despite the scale, everything in SC4 is compressed.  So to get maximum usage out of your buses, you need bus stops every block.  is very useful here, as it allows you to have bus stops directly on the road and not take up extra real estate.  If you do use RTMT, be sure to get the as it has important bug fixes, as well as additional stations and features.

 

As for using the Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool with Steam, I don't know; the fact that Steam uses a different directory structure than the standard SC4 might be a problem.  Have other people used the Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool and the Steam version of SC4 together successfully?

[MoarTriangle 0]

I'm afraid that the answers you have been given about buses are incorrect.  The pointer by Cefien to the traffic simulator guide should be helpful, though.  There are two main differences between bus behavior in the Maxis traffic simulator and in the NAM traffic simulator.  First, buses travel twice as fast as cars in the Maxis simulator, while the NAM simulator is more realistic, having them travel slightly slower than cars.  Secondly, and most importantly, buses do not contribute to traffic in the Maxis simulator, while in the NAM simulator, they contribute to traffic, just like every other travel type (except pedestrians).  The Maxis behavior means that its traffic simulator can jam as many Sims into buses as it wants with no effect on traffic; these buses are run by the Black Hole Bus Company.  As a result, the Maxis traffic simulator uses buses a lot, because it's a great way to get rid of congestion.

 

It's not hard to get better bus usage out of the NAM traffic simulator, however.  The key is to have enough bus stops.  Keep in mind that despite the scale, everything in SC4 is compressed.  So to get maximum usage out of your buses, you need bus stops every block.  is very useful here, as it allows you to have bus stops directly on the road and not take up extra real estate.  If you do use RTMT, be sure to get the as it has important bug fixes, as well as additional stations and features.

 

As for using the Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool with Steam, I don't know; the fact that Steam uses a different directory structure than the standard SC4 might be a problem.  Have other people used the Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool and the Steam version of SC4 together successfully?

 

Thank you for the answer!

 

I got the TSCT working by installing java, so no problems there.

 

I noticed in this tool, that there is a window for controlling the ratio of different transportation types for each wealth class(§, §§ and §§§). Since Im using the medium(american) preset, the way low wealth sims§ travel is set to 50% mass transit and 50% car.

 

Now, the majority of the sims in the city in the pictures i provided is working Dirty Industry in a different city to the south, and pretty much all of them get there by mass transit(subway). Since the simulator is set to have 50% of sims use mass transit and the other 50% use cars, could this be the reason im not seeing much bus uses in my city? Simply that I need more people going to work by car for the simulator to start using mass transit(bus) again? Hope this makes sense.

 

I understand you said I need more bus stops to increase bus usage, I tried planting more of them and it didnt really seem to make any difference.

 

BTW, are the red(congested) spots right before the intersections on my pictures anything to worry about? Is it bad enough to change the intersection to a roundabout? 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Red intersections on the traffic congestion display indicates the traffic slows down at intersections, which is more realistic.  You might find the other display on this same panel more to your taste.  Try clicking the second radio button for the traffic flow display.

[z1 566]

Now, the majority of the sims in the city in the pictures i provided is working Dirty Industry in a different city to the south, and pretty much all of them get there by mass transit(subway). Since the simulator is set to have 50% of sims use mass transit and the other 50% use cars, could this be the reason im not seeing much bus uses in my city?

 

No, the Sims are using the subway because it's much faster than buses.  The 50% number is just a slight preference, and is easily overridden if one form of transportation is significantly faster than the other.

 

Simply that I need more people going to work by car for the simulator to start using mass transit(bus) again?

 

Absolutely not.  The two are not really connected.  The main rule is that the Sims always take the fasted route to work.  The preference figures simply add a small time handicap to the nonpreferred form of transport.

[joeypep 3]

how do i install/download TSCT?

[Compdude787 916]

how do i install/download TSCT?

It's part of the Network Addon Mod (NAM). Look for this mod here on the STEX; after you go through the entire installation of the NAM, you have the option to run the Traffic Simulator Configuration tool.

[joeypep 3]

 

how do i install/download TSCT?

It's part of the Network Addon Mod (NAM). Look for this mod here on the STEX; after you go through the entire installation of the NAM, you have the option to run the Traffic Simulator Configuration tool.

 

I installed NAM and i never got that option. I'm using a mac, does that have anything to do with it?

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Did you use the 32.1 installer?  TSCT is written in Java and runs fine on Linux, so it should run on a MAC as well.  Perhaps Z1 could comment here since he has the most to do with that installer.

[Prophet42 1,503]

Just one comment on the RTMT (Road Top Mass Transit), I find it an absolutely essential mod for my cites.  Having the ability to add mass transit on top of the roads without taking up valuable real-estate is vital to creating a realistic city.  And the amount of options are fantastic.  In my view, NAM and RTMT are the two most essential mods for the game.  If you don't have RTMT, I would highly recommend downloading it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

RTMT has the one flaw of requiring a complex manual installation.  I've been advised that someone is working on an automatic installer similar to the NAM, but nothing has happened.